by Barbara Goss
When they’d finished their meal, Adam stood and said, “All right, what did you want to talk about? Can we sit on the bed? I’d like to be closer to you when we talk than across a desk.”
Greta smiled. “All right.” She sat on the bed, and he sat beside her.
Greta fiddled nervously with the folds of her skirt before asking, “Why did you contest the annulment?”
Adam shrugged. “Because I didn’t want it.”
“But why?”
“Because I’d made a promise to Seth, telling him I’d take care of his family. I’d planned to keep that promise, but now I realize that you and I have a partnership in the horse breeding business, and I don’t need to be married to you to carry out that promise.”
“So, you’re all right with the annulment now? You’ll cancel the annulment challenge?”
Adam rubbed the back of his neck as if thinking, and then he sighed. “Only if that’s what you truly want.”
“I want it for one reason: a marriage needs more to hold it together than a promise to your brother.”
“I agree,” Adam said. “I was wrong to assume I could marry without the main ingredient.” He was afraid to say the word, love. If she didn’t feel the same, it would ruin everything.
To his dismay, Greta asked the question he didn’t want to answer.
“What, in your opinion, is the main ingredient?”
He looked at her and tried to think of what to say next. She smiled and squeezed his hand. Was she showing him that she felt the same? Should he say the word? She looked so fetching, sitting there with wide, expectant eyes.
She squeezed his hand again. Without planning to, he leaned over and touched his lips to hers. His heart felt as if it had dropped several inches in his chest when she returned the kiss. After, they sat there looking into each other’s eyes. Adam knew for sure how he felt—the fact that she’d returned the kiss gave him the courage to say the word.
“The main ingredient is love, but at the time, I didn’t know that I was in love.” Greta smiled, and his courage was bolstered again. “I love you, Greta.”
“And I love you, Adam Sutherland. I have since I was thirteen.”
Adam was shocked. “You what?”
“I would watch you every Sunday in church. I’d see you now and then in town, too. I allowed Seth to court me in the hope I’d get closer to you, but you’d left for the sea.”
Adam kissed Greta again, and they somehow fell backward onto the bed. Adam whispered, “Do you want to stay married to me?”
Greta nodded and put her arms around his neck. “More than anything.”
“If we consummate the marriage now, it will seal our vows.”
Greta sat up. “No.”
Adam was still reclining on the bed. “You said you loved me, so why not? We’re married. Sweetheart, let’s make it real. Right now. Tonight.”
“I can’t. I have to wait to see if you can really stay on dry land. What if we consummate and you get a craving for the sea, then what?”
“I never break a promise. I can’t truthfully promise you I’ll never have a craving for sailing, but if I do, I’ll take you and Bethany with me. We don’t have to go for months; just a vacation trip up and down the coast. Maybe we could sail to Charleston or someplace. I can promise that I’d never leave you. I couldn’t ever be away from you that long. Somedays, if I don’t see you after a few hours, I have to find you because I miss you.”
Greta looked deeply into his eyes as he spoke. Then, she smiled and reclined beside him. “What are we waiting for? Let’s make it real.”
Adam held Greta in his arms. He’d never felt so fulfilled or had such a love for life as he did at that moment. She was his, and he could keep her at his side forever. He kissed her forehead. “I love you so much, Greta. I know we’ll have a wonderful life together.”
“I love you also, and I know Bethany, you, and I will have a wonderful—”
Greta gasped and sprang up. “Oh, my! What if I...I mean, we...what if we have another child?”
Adam chuckled and pulled her back into his arms. “Then I’d know I died and went to heaven.”
The moonlight enabled Adam to watch Greta as she slept. She was lovely, he had to admit, but more importantly, she was a beautiful person on the inside as well. All along, he’d thought she was insecure and hadn’t a mind of her own because she was so kind and generous to everyone, but she wasn’t a spineless pushover as he’d first thought. No, she was a genuinely compassionate, kind-hearted, godly woman who had gone along with whatever his parents had wanted, not because she was weak, but because she knew they’d been good to her and she truly appreciated them. He bent to kiss her cheek. How had he been so fortunate as to have found a pure angel? He loved her with every fiber of his being, and he’d die for her if he had to.
He sighed softly, silently thanking God for his angel.
Now, the couple held hands as they walked along the deck, or Adam put his arm around her. It wasn’t uncommon for the crew to catch them kissing. Sometimes, they’d make noises and whistle loudly which always made Greta blush.
They both looked forward to bedtime when they could make sweet love and lay in each other’s arms before Adam had to take his shift at the helm. Greta told him that her only regret was that she couldn’t wake up with him beside her. He promised her that as soon as they’d reached Philadelphia, she’d wake up next to him every morning for the rest of their lives.
Adam knew he loved Greta before they’d made love, but each time they did it, he loved her even more. It wasn’t the physical part of it that make him love her more, but the joining of their souls, the two of them becoming as one as the Bible had said it should be. He’d never known anything as beautiful in his life as loving his wife.
~~~~***~~~~
Greta woke and stretched. She did what she always did upon awaking: she turned to the portholes to see if the sun was shining. Greta dreaded another storm like the one they’d had on the way to Liverpool.
A noise caused her to bolt upright. It sounded like something scraping. Her heart pounded. What could be going on? The ship rocked, but not in the usual, roiling manner. She quickly dressed and pinned up her braid. If something was going on, she didn’t want to be caught in bed or in her nightgown.
Greta locked the door behind her and scurried up the stairs to the deck. What she saw brought tears to her eyes. She wished Adam was at her side to share the moment with her, but he was busy helping moor the ship into its haven in Philadelphia. Isaac and Levi were there, directing the ship into its regular mooring space. When the ship was secure, Adam waved for her to join him, and he put the boarding plank into place, and they stepped onto land together.
It felt so good to be back on solid ground. Isaac and Levi gave her a quick embrace and led her to the office. She wondered why they’d bustled her so quickly inside.
Adam followed them. When she stepped inside, she let out a squeal and ran to Bethany, who was standing beside Sam and Rhea.
“Mama!” Bethany yelled as she jumped into her mother’s open arms. Tears of joy rolled down Greta’s cheeks.
“What a wonderful surprise!” she cried. “I thought I’d have to endure days on a train before seeing you.”
Rhea and Sam greeted Adam before embracing Greta. Bethany ran to Adam, and he picked her up and kissed her cheek.
“A-dam,” she cried, and she put her arms around his neck.
“Sweetheart, you can call me Papa, now.”
Greta smiled and joined the hug. “We’re a family, now.”
Rhea elbowed Sam and winked.
Rhea said, “Praise the good Lord; our prayers have been answered.” After hugging Adam and Greta she said, “We knew how much you two missed Bethany, so we thought we’d surprise you and come to Philadelphia to welcome you home. We’ve been staying with Isaac, and we wondered when you would be arriving. Another ship came in last night and told us they’d seen Eve about ten miles out, so we were able to give you t
he perfect surprise this morning.”
Rhea led them all to the office door. “We’ll go into town, have a nice meal, and buy train tickets home. I know you’re both anxious to get home.”
“Thank you for the surprise, and yes, Adam and I can’t wait to get home,” Greta said.
Chapter Fifteen
Adam wasted no time moving into the new house with Greta and Bethany. He and Greta had been surprised to find that Sam had finished the stables and even bought a few prime horses to begin breeding.
It felt good for Adam to sit down to breakfast with his lovely wife and daughter. He smiled at them as he ate. “This is nice.”
Greta returned his smile. “Indeed, it is. I was surprised to see how much your father accomplished while we were away.”
“I can’t wait to go out and give those horses another look; but we need to go into town to do some business at the bank first,” Adam said.
“What kind of business?”
“First, we need to go to the bank to set up an account for our horse breeding business in both of our names. Then, I need to include you on my personal bank account so you can buy things whenever you need something. Our last stop will be your attorney’s office to stop the ridiculous annulment proceedings.”
Greta laughed. “I thought that after I fell asleep while you were kissing me last night, you’d want to keep the annulment active. I’m so sorry, Adam, but I was exhausted.”
“No apologies necessary. We have a whole life ahead of us. I was tired, too, and I simply wanted to kiss you goodnight, but then I got a bit carried away, as I usually do when kissing you, sweetheart.”
“I’ll make it up to you later.” She winked at Adam. “I could have sworn the bed was swaying with the waves this morning. I’m so glad to be home, but I do miss the ship, I have to admit. We’ll have to take a vacation every year on Eve.”
Greta turned to Bethany. “Would you like to visit your grandmother today while Papa and I take care of business in town?”
Bethany had a mouthful of oatmeal, so she just nodded.
Adam wiped a smudge of cereal from Bethany’s chin before looking back at Greta. “Do you think Seth would mind if I adopted Bethany?”
“I think he’d love it. Mr. Granger might be able to start the paperwork for it.”
After they’d finished the banking, Adam and Greta walked to the attorney’s office to stop the annulment proceedings. Adam also got paperwork started to adopt Bethany.
As they walked back to their horses, Greta ran into her friend, Nancy. After the introductions, Adam excused himself to run to the general store to pick up the mail, leaving Greta to chat with Nancy on the wooden walkway.
As they talked, Miles Tanner approached.
Nancy greeted Miles and then excused herself. “I have to run,” Nancy said. “We’ll talk soon, Greta.”
Miles asked Greta, “Did the annulment go through yet?”
“I’m sorry, Miles, but we just cancelled it. Adam and I have decided to stay married. We fell in love on our sea voyage.”
“What?” he practically yelled. “After I waited for you all this time?”
Greta didn’t know what more she could say, so she simply shrugged and repeated her apology.
“Is there a problem?” Adam said as he walked up to them.
Miles gave Adam a sneer. “Greta was supposed to be mine after the annulment. I’ve waited for her all this time.”
“Miles,” Adam said, “if you ever approach my wife in anger again, I’ll show you what anger really is.”
“I’d call you out for a gunfight, but you don’t even wear a gun belt. What’s that hanging from your belt anyway?” Miles asked.
“It’s called a cutlass. Do you want to see how I use it?”
Miles laughed. “It can’t be faster than my—”
Adam cut him off by bringing his cutlass to his throat. “You were saying, Miles? That it wasn’t fast?”
Miles backed away from the sword. “What kind of man carries a sword instead of a gun?
“Someone who saw his sick brother being bullied by someone named Miles Tanner.”
Greta gasped.
A crowd had gathered in the street to watch the ruckus.
Miles glared at Adam, shook his fist at him, and snarled through his teeth, “You’ve made a fool out of me in public, and I won’t forget it,” Miles said, walking across the street and mounting his horse.
“Is that true?” Greta asked. “Did Miles bully Seth?”
“Yep. He knocked him to the ground and stole his lunch. He was ten at the time. I heard he made a habit of bullying kids.”
“I had no idea.” Greta took Adam’s arm. “Let’s go home.”
Greta helped Adam take the horses to the stables. They unsaddled the horses in adjacent stalls.
“Adam, maybe you should wear a gun belt instead of the cutlass while in Texas.”
Adam tossed the saddle over the wall of the stall. “Why?”
“What if someone like Tanner shot at you from a distance? A cutlass wouldn’t help you.”
He smiled at her. “Are you worried about Tanner? He’s all talk.”
Greta tossed her saddle over the wall. “Still, guns would work better out here, in Texas.”
Adam looked at his cutlass. “You may be right. It is somewhat out of place here.”
“Do you have guns?” she asked.
“I still have my Colts. I think they’re up in the attic at my parents’ house. If it will make you worry less, I’ll get them out and wear them.”
Greta let out a breath of relief. “I’d feel a whole lot better.”
Once their horses were taken care of, they walked down the row of stalls to get a better look at their new stock. Adam ran his hand down the mane of a palomino. “These horses are magnificent.”
“How soon until we have babies to sell?”
Adam moved to the next stall and stroked a pinto. “It will be a few years, sweetheart. That’s something we need to talk about.”
“Let’s go sit on the porch, then, and talk. I would kill for a cup of tea. I think I swallowed a lot of dust on the trail,” she said with a chuckle.
Annie brought a tray of tea out to the front porch where the couple were sitting.
Greta poured the tea and said, “What do we need to talk about?”
“I’ll need a job...at least, until we have horses to sell. We have money in the bank, but I don’t want to use it all. It’s always good to have money in the bank for emergencies.”
Greta stirred her tea. “What kind of job were you thinking of looking for?”
Adam shrugged. “I hadn’t thought about it. All I know is sailing.”
“I can take care of the horses,” she offered.
“Yes, you can, but I’d like to hire someone to do the dirty work like mucking the stalls.”
“I won’t argue with that.” Greta set her cup on the saucer. “How will you go about finding a job?”
“I’ll go into town tomorrow and ask around, I suppose.”
“Wear your guns.”
Adam bent over and kissed his wife. “I will.” He stood. “I think we should go and pick up our daughter.”
~~~~****~~~~
Greta was elated with her marriage to Adam. She woke up each morning, stared at his sleeping form, and asked herself, “How did I get so lucky?”
She never imagined he’d have to get a job in Fort Worth, since she hadn’t realized how long it would take to breed horses and sell them, but now that Adam had brought it to her attention, she knew the horses needed to be bred and they’d have to wait for the babies to be born. The babies would need time to grow and probably be broken so the buyers could ride them, which could take years. She often wondered if she’d done the right thing by taking Adam away from the sea. Would he be happy working at what would most likely be a lackluster job? Would he yearn for the sea and eventually leave them?
She couldn’t see Adam working at a livery, a store, or even
the brick factory.
Each day after job hunting, he’d come home a bit sadder and more depressed than the day before. She tried to boost his spirits with an extra special dinner, a back and neck rub, and sweet love-making at night.
Greta had gotten her courses that month, and she sighed with relief that she wasn’t increasing because it wasn’t the right time with Adam so worried about money.
Every Sunday, Adam, Greta, and Bethany went to church with Sam and Rhea. They had Sunday dinner with Adam’s parents, taking turns between eating at their home and Adam and Greta’s.
One Monday afternoon, Greta prepared to greet a sullen Adam when he came home, but to her surprise, he was excited instead.
“I’ve found the most perfect job!” He picked Greta up and swung her around the kitchen.
When he finally set her down, she asked, “Where?”
“You’re looking at the new captain of Miller’s Ferry.”
Greta clapped her hands together. “Miller’s Ferry? Why didn’t I think of that?”
Adam sobered somewhat. “Before you get too excited, the job won’t last long as they’re building bridges along the Trinity River and before long, a ferry won’t be needed. According to the ferry people, the railroad has already taken away a good deal of their business.
“If I keep the job for a year or two, it will be enough for us.”
“That’s the perfect job for you,” Greta said. “I’ve been praying for a miracle, and it looks like we have one.”
Adam reached into his breast pocket. “Here are the fares I’m to charge: man on foot—five cents; man and horse—ten cents; loose horses and cattle—five cents each; sheep and hogs—three cents each; one-horse wagon—twenty-five cents; four-horse wagon—fifty cents; six-horse wagon—seventy-five cents.”
Greta put her arms around Adam’s neck. “I’m so proud of you.”
Adam kissed her. “I want to provide for my little family more than anything.”
